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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: nail · cold · lean · squash · wind · spell · straw · cabinet

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. spell — a short time
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. cold — an illness
  7. squash — the sport
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. squash — to crush
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. cold — not warm
  14. spell — magic
  15. lean — to bend
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. wind — moving air
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. lean — thin
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. wind — moving air
  24. straw — dry grass

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com